Tuning the Fiat E.torQ

"Comprehensive guide to tuning the Fiat E.torQ engine!"

We are regularly getting emails inquiring about getting more power from the E.torQ and wanting to know what are the best E.torQ mods that work. So let us look into Fiat E.torQ upgrades and outline the best modifications on this great engine and point out some frequent tuning mistakes along the way.

This pages aim is review and look at E.torQ tuning and show the best modifications. Fiat E.torQ are awesome to work on and with the optimum modifications like remapping, turbo improvements and camshafts you will substantially enhance your driving enjoyment.

When talking about the ultimate parts for your E.torQ engine, we are going to focus on the tuning mods that give the best power gain for you money.

Significant gains on the E.torQ can be made from cam upgrades. Altering the cam profile alters the intake and exhaust durations on the engine and can dramatically change the bhp and power output.

NB: Fast road camshafts commonly increase the bhp through the rev range, you may sacrifice a little low down torque but the high end rpm power will be lifted.

Motorsport and race camshafts, increase the high end rpm power band but as a result the car will not idle smoothly and low end power nearly always suffers.

A Race cam will just annoy you whilst driving around busy urban areas.

You should ideally match your engines power to your driving style so for a typical daily driver stick with a shorter duration E.torQ cam

Each engine responds better to extreme cam durations so set your engine up on a rolling road.

The ECU mapping and fuelling also will say much on the torque gains you'll hit.

Longer valve durations can alter the torque band and on most engines the exhaust and intake durations do not need to match, although most cams and tuners use matched pairs there are some advantages to extending the intake or exhaust durations.

E.torQ Tuning Stages

Stage 1 E.torQ modifications: Panel air filters, Remaps/piggy back ECU, Sports exhaust manifold, Drilled & smoothed airbox, Fast road camshaft, Intake headers.

Stage 2 E.torQ modifications: Sports catalyst & performance exhaust, Ported and polished head, fuel pump upgrades, high flow fuel injectors, induction kit, Fast road cam.

Stage 3 E.torQ modifications: Competition cam, Twin charging conversions, Internal engine upgrades (head flowing porting/bigger valves), Adding or Upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger), Engine balancing & blueprinting, Crank and Piston upgrades to alter compression.

Review your options and then acquire your mods and set yourself a power target to avoid wasting your time and money.

ECU flashing allows a tuner to release the full potential of all the parts you've done to your E.torQ.

It will usually give around 30% more power on turbocharged vehicles and you can expect to see around 15% on NASP engines, but the end result often differs on the parts you've fitted and the condition of your engine.

Pulling fuel and air into each cylinder is vital to any engine tuning project.

The intake plenum transmit the air during the suck phase from the filter and allow it to be pulled into the engine cylinders.

The size of bore and shape and rate of flow of the Air Intake manifolds can make a noticeable improvement to fuel atomisation on the E.torQ.

I usually find intake manifold are in dire need of aftermarket tuning parts, although a few manufacturers provide decently flowing intake manifold.

Increasing the E.torQ valve size, carrying out port matching and head flowing will also increase torque, this will allow you to get increasing the torque increase on other upgrades.

Turbo upgrades for the E.torQ

NASP engines need quite a lot of work when you add a turbo, so we have a separate guide to help you take into account the pros and cons of going this route on your E.torQ

The more air you can get into an engine, the more fuel it can burn and uprating the induction with a turbocharger upgrade makes significant power gains.

When your motor has forced induction upgrades are relatively easy and you will discover turbo engines are made using strengthened components.

There are common areas of failure for every engine, with some being incredibly solid and some only just able to handle stock power

It is important to find these limitations and upgrade to stronger pistons, crank and engine components to handle the power.

We see many people spending a lots of money on turbo upgrades on the E.torQ only to suffer the indignity of watching the E.torQ catastrophically fail when it's finished.

Big upgraded turbos tend to experience low end lag, and little turbos spool up much more quickly but do not have the high rpm engines power gains.

Thanks to progress the range of turbo units is always moving on and we commonly find variable vane turbo units, permitting the vane profile is altered according to speed to lower lag and increase top end performance.

Twin scroll turbo units divert the exhaust flow into a couple of channels and flow these at differently angled vanes in the turbo charger. They also increase the scavenging effect of the engine.

It is not unusual that there's a limit in the air flow sensor MAP/MAF/AFM on the E.torQ when loads more air is being sucked into the engine.

We see 4 bar air sensors coping with quite large power gains, whereas the OEM air sensor sapped power at a much lower level.

Adding a supercharger or additional turbo will make large torque gains, although more challenging to get working. We have this article on twincharging if you want to read more.

Uprating E.torQ fuel injectors

You will need to ensure that the engine is not starved of fuel so will need to look at the fuelling when you start exceeding 20% of a performance increase.Most tuners we speak with say to be generous with your injector capacity.

The accepted safe increase is to add 20% capacity when specifying an injector, this accounts for injector deterioration and provides some spare capacity should the engine need more fuel.

We think this one is common sense, but you'll need to match your fuel injector to the type of fuel your car uses as well.

Best E.torQ performance exhausts

Only look to uprate your exhaust if the current exhaust is creating a restriction.

On most factory exhausts you'll see your flow rate is fine even on modest power gains, but when you start pushing up the power levels you will need to get a better flowing exhaust.

Note that with the widest exhaust you can find this will slow the exhaust rate - the best exhausts for power gains are usually between 1.5 to 2.5 inches. It is the shape and material more than the bore size.

Usual exhaust restrictions are traced to the catalyst installed, so adding a faster flowing sports alternative will help avoid this restriction.

Problems and issues to look out for on the E.torQ

The E.torQ engines, if regularly serviced and maintained, are generally very reliable and have few issues.

Regular oil changes are vital on the E.torQ, particularly when the engine has been modified and is putting down more power than the manufacturer intended.

For more information on Tuning your E.torQ engine please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss tuning options in more detail with our E.torQ owners. It would also be worth reading our unbiased tuning articles to get a full grasp of the benefits and drawbacks of each modification.

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We really like hearing from our readers, and hearing about which parts were the most effective for them, it helps us improve our recommendations and articles to reflect current trends in modifications and ensures that our E.torQ guides and tips are kept up to date.

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